A Methodology of Energy Optimization in Indoor Swimming Pool

Abstract

Swimming pools require a large amount of energy to provide comfort for the swimmers, therefore, energy saving actions must be studied in order to optimise their efficiency even when the existing systems are already of high performance. The case study relies on a public indoor swimming pool, in which dynamic simulations were developed by using TRNSYS software. Experimental measurement campaign was also performed in order to investigate the system operation to calibrate the numerical model by using the real data. Starting from the virtual model of the pool centre different energy efficiency actions have been analysed in the interest of find achievable energy savings. The first action is related to a new management of the pool centre and involves the reduction of evaporation losses from the water pool surface; the other action proposes to increase the heating supply coming from renewable source. The results of the analysis outline that both proposed solutions permit a reduction of total heat needs and therefore of the amount of primary energy. This permits to carry out replicable analyses by adapting the studied plant system to different operating swimming centres systems, investigating their efficiencies and identifying solutions for energy saving actions.

Use of an Outdoor Swimming Pool as Seasonal Heat Source in Heat Pump Applications

“…In order to make a comparison of the possible layouts of the HP system, a simulation has been carried out considering only the AWHP. This layout is similarly to what has been analyzed in the previous work on the same swimming Pool Centre [30]. The difference in terms of contribution to the thermal power plant and energy performance of the systems are summarized in Table 7.…”

“…Similarly to the study reported in [30], several dynamic simulations have been carried out using TRNSYS simulation tool. The energy model of the existing building and plant was calibrated in the previous study by means of monitoring data recorded during the winter period.…”

“…The present work examines the case study of an Italian swimming Pool Centre located in the city of Ferrara in North-East Italy. A first energy analysis of the same building complex has been carried out and published in a previous paper [30]. In that work the analysis wanted to investigate a few possible actions to better manage the generation system of the pool and at the same time it evaluates how the reduction in evaporative mass could positively affect the reduction in energy consumption.…”

“…A sketch of the thermal power plant is shown in Figure 1. More detail about the case study can be found in [30] which describes the previous study on the same swimming Pool Centre.…”

“…This first research has been carried out with the aim of improving the energy performance of the entire building complex focusing on the historical management of the thermal power plant. A monitoring campaign of the operating conditions has been used for the calibration of the dynamic energy model and finally for the development of several hypothesis for a more efficient management of the thermal power plant [30]. The results of the study demonstrate that few energy saving actions can lead to a significant cut in terms of energy demand and consequently in GHG emissions.…”